Much Ado About Nothing
by missgeekywhovian
Summary: Despite all the magic, and nobility, and granduer, Hogwarts is not exempt form teenage drama. Lydia Martin, Slytherin, is determined to get through her years by studying hard and getting the best grades in the class. So how did Stiles, that weird Ravenclaw, turn his mouse into a paperclip first? Stydia, maybe ten chapters now? R&R, please.
1. I

"Hmmm..."  
Lydia fidgets on the stool, readjusting the sorting hat on her head.  
"Very interesting..."  
"Could you get on with it, please?" she hisses, feeling the eyes of the school on her and flushing red. She fumbles with her hands in her lap.  
"You've got plenty of intelligence, but no, no, no-not ravenclaw. Definitely not hufflepuff and Gryffindor...eh. I suppose...SLYTHERIN!"  
Her house is screamed out to the hall, and the green-tied students start to clap. They welcome her onto the table and she sits between some kid named Greenberg and an older student. From the Gryffindor table, Allison waves at her and Lydia smiles back.  
The rest of the sorting goes by slow. Allison blushes a magenta red when a boy named Scott McCall, who got sorted in Gryffindor, sits next to her. Another boy she knows, Danny, gets into hufflepuff and she claps happily.  
By the time it gets to 'S', she's not really listening anymore but then the professor stutters over some horrible name, and a gangly, dark-haired boy stumbles onto the stage and whispers something in her ear.  
"Stiles Stilinski."  
He jams the sorting hat onto his head, and sits there for at least a minute until it finally screams "RAVENCLAW!" He climbs off the stage and makes his way over to his table, waving at Scott on the way.  
But by that time, she's back to daydreaming.

* * *

Their first test is in Transfiguration. The slytherins are taking classes with the ravenclaws and Lydia's determined to show them she can do it just as good as them. They have 10 minutes to transfigure a mouse into a paperclip, but obviously they haven't been taught the exact spell so they have to search for it.  
She works and works for a solid 6 minutes, and when she finally thinks she's got the right spell there's a burst of applause from the ravenclaw end. That weird kid, Stiles, is holding a shiny paperclip in his hand and Professor McGonagall is looking very pleased.  
She almost screams in frustration.

* * *

Lydia gets her revenge in Herbology next week.  
He looks almost crestfallen as she brandishes her essay, which was given two marks more than his.  
She high-fives one of her slytherin friends and swivels round to face the front.

* * *

It's during lunch when Allison comes over.  
"So Lydia," she starts, and Lydia knows what she's going to ask.  
"Yes," she sighs. "Scott likes you, and you should ask him out."  
Then Allison is off, squealing and rambling about how she should do it and Lydia just keeps eating her roast through all of it, watching Stiles arguing with their Herbology teacher.

* * *

The competition continues throughout the rest of the first year, and by the end she and Stiles are (infuriatingly) at a stalemate.

* * *

Allison drags her down to the quidditch trials, to watch Scott of course.  
Most of the school is there, and they're all babbling excitedly like it's the most interesting thing in the world. Lydia rolls her eyes and sits next to Allison in the stands.

First up are the Hufflepuffs, and Danny makes the team easily as a Beater (he hits about six people during his trial). The Slytherins are next, and Lydia claps synthetically as Greenburg and some athletic kid called Jackson make the team. Then it's the Ravenclaws, and Stiles walks out.

Lydia almost laughs, because seriously, he's definitely not the right type of build for quidditch (and she thought he was meant to be clever).She almost falls off the bench several times in the next five minutes as he dodges chasers, the captain and an extremely well-aimed bludger from Jackson to score a goal. Then she sees Allison staring at her in a weird way, and she composes herself.

So he's good at quidditch. So what?

* * *

She's meant to be at Charms, but she's late because of Peeves acting up. She sprints round the corner and slams into someone. That someone yelps and drops all his books. Lydia looks back, but it's just Stiles so she keeps running.

He stares after her for a long time.

* * *

They're doing boggarts in Defence against the dark arts, and Lydia hates it.

She doesn't want everyone to know her greatest fear, and so marches to the back of the line hoping everyone else will take up the rest of the time they have in the lesson. It's quite interesting, though, to see what people's fears are.

When Stiles steps up, she sees a white hospital bed with a man that looks like an older version of him on it. Stiles starts to tremble and all but drops his wand until he takes a deep breath and makes his boggart disappear.

He spent so long, that the bell rings, and she doesn't have to step up, but she still feels awful.

* * *

Allison is babbling about Scott, _again_, and Lydia stares out of the train window, watching the countryside go by.

It's her third year, and sometimes she wishes her friend wasn't so completely besotted with Scott. She hears laughter, and turns her head to the compartment door to see Stiles with his Ravenclaw friends walking past.

She huffs, and turns back to the trees.

Lydia likes the lake.

It's quiet and Allison doesn't like it- which means no in-depth analysis of Scott's smile. She's enjoying the peace until someone speaks from behind her.

"Hey, Lydia, "says the voice. She grits her teeth. _Stiles._

"I'm busy," she hisses, turning around. "Don't you have quidditch practice?"

He shrugs. "Cancelled." he sits down beside her and looks out at the still waters. "It's nice here, isn't it? Calm. I like coming here."

"I never see you here," she replies, confused (and annoyed that she's confused).

"Yeah, well, I tend to avoid you," he says, getting back up. The words sting and Lydia sits there feeling stupid.

"Since you hate me so much," he calls over his shoulder.

* * *

She's at the library, looking for book she can't seem to find. She asks the librarian where it is, but it's been taken out.

"Who's got it?" she asks, knowing she could persuade them to hand it over.

"Stiles," replies the librarian and she points at the corner where he's sitting, writing out an essay. He looks up at them mention of his name, and grins at her.

Lydia growls, and storms out.

* * *

She's walking down the corridor with Allison, when she sees Scott and Stiles both sprawled on the ground with Jackson looming above them. Allison rushes over to help them up, but Lydia just continues down the hall.

* * *

It's her fourth year, and yet Lydia finds herself down at the quidditch stands with every else, watching the big match. Its Slytherin v Ravenclaw, but the whole school's turned up as the results will determine the quidditch cup winners.

The Slytherins around her are jostling wildly, and she debates going to sit with Allison- but Scott will be there and Lydia holds back the urge to vomit. She loves her friend, she _does, _her and Scott are just gross.

A whistle blows and the players surge into action.

Half an hour in, the teams are tied and Lydia is immensely bored, wishing she was in the library. A green blur whizzes past and its Jackson, trailing Stiles. He's not fast enough though, and the quaffle goes through the slytherin hoop. Lydia can hear him snarl from the stand.

Greenburg has the quaffle, but it's knocked out of his hands by a bludger from Boyd and caught by Stiles. Before he can do anything however, he's hit on the back of his head by Jackson's bat.

There's a collective gasp from the audience as Stiles falls off his broom and hits the floor with a thud, limp and bleeding.

Lydia doesn't know what she's doing, but she finds herself running down onto the pitch with Scott and Allison. She bursts through the line of smug Slytherins and watches as McGonagall lifts Stiles onto a stretcher.

* * *

Lydia visits him in the infirmary the next day. He's still knocked out, and pale from the loss of blood. It freaks her out, because he should be awake, making some stupid remark about Bludgers or Jackson or _something._

She doesn't stay long.

* * *

The next few weeks are spent watching the slytherins and ravenclaws clash. The blue-tied students are furious at the foul, and being exceptionally clever, they plot a _very _successful revenge. It earns most of them detentions into the far off future, but they all agree it was worth it.

So does Lydia. It was very satisfying to see Jackson covered in thick, permanent sticking gloop in the middle of dinner.

* * *

By the time Stiles is back they're doing a test on Cheering Charms. Despite his absence, he manages to reduce his partner to hysterical giggles.


	2. II

**A/N I'm not very good at writing speech, so this chapter isn't that good.**

It's the holidays, and Lydia is staying at Allison's house. Both her parents are magical, and she feels immensely uncomfortable, being a muggle-born. There's a talking clock, dishes that wash themselves and a singing ghost. When the doorbell goes off, it's almost a relief.

Almost.

Scott and Stiles come tumbling in and Lydia wishes murder wasn't illegal because Allison decides to go and be disgusting with Scott, leaving her and Stiles.

Alone. Sitting on the fence.

"Soooo….." she says, cringing at the word and focusing on her swinging legs. "How's your head?" It's a stupid question. The great Quidditch incident(or the hilarious Stilinski fail, as Jackson calls it) happened almost a year ago, but Stiles answers.

"It's fine, no thanks to the almighty douche named Jackson." He rubs at the back of his head, where the bat had once slammed into. "Have you done the Charms homework yet?"

"Of course," she states, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "I did it on the train back." He laughs at that, though she's not sure why. "Have you?"

Stiles makes a face and shakes his head. "Professor Flitwick bores the hell out of me. I mean, I know he's my head of house but he drones on and on…."

"You're supposed to be a Ravenclaw," Lydia sweeps her red hair back and stares at him. "You're supposed to live in homework."

"Oh really?" he asks. "The hat said it was a draw between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. I told it there was no way in _hell _I was going to Hufflepuff so-"

"Hey!" shouts Lydia. "I know great people in Hufflepuff, like Danny!"

"Danny Mahealani?"

"Yeah."

Stiles snorts. "I don't think he likes me very much. It might be to do with the fact I walked in on him and Ethan snogging in the boy's bathroom."

Lydia gasps. "Seriously? Oh my god, why didn't he tell me?"

"Are you guys even friends? " Lydia nods.

"We've been friends for ages, he tells me most things. He wrote a letter, saying he was a prefect last week." Stiles laughs again, and then jumps down from the fence.

"No offence, Lydia but being a prefect isn't the largest secret in the world. Even I'm one."

He walks off, leaving Lydia gaping furiously.

* * *

The school isn't the same when they come back.

A death eater, Antonin Dolohov, has escaped from Azkaban and the security is ramped up.

"I've heard about him," whispers Erica during the speech, warning them to stay inside after curfew. "He has a special thing for torture, and he's broken out before. Killed a woman then, it was all over the news."

Lydia shudders.

* * *

They're in transfiguration when Jackson decides to open his stupid mouth.

"Professor, didn't that Dolohov _kill _somebody when he last got out?" he asks, innocently. His friends next to him grin stupidly. The silence in the air suddenly becomes charged, and several of the ravenclaws shift uncomfortably.

"That has nothing to do with today's lesson, Mr Whittemore," she says, dodging the question. Lydia turns to glare at him, but he's whispering to the other slytherins.

"But, Professor, my mother said we should be prepared and that we should know everything about him." He's got her there. Jackson's mum is on the board, and Jackson's just a mummy's boy.

Professor McGonagall stops in her tracks. "Yes, he did kill someone, Mr Whittemore, so all of you should be more careful this year." Jackson smirks and looks over at Stiles who, Lydia notices, is clenching the table so tightly his knuckles are white.

"Professor, didn't he torture this person?" Jackson continues, the glee in his voice becoming more noticeable. Several of the ravenclaws turn to stare daggers at him, and Boyd, who's sitting next to Stiles, is telling him to not listen.

Lydia starts to get up. "Shut up, Jackson," she says.

"See, Professor, I heard, that he tortured the person until they begged for death. My mother told me he was crazy, you see. I heard, the person was practically dead before he actually cast the curse."

Boyd starts to get up as well, clenching his fists, but Jackson is whispering to Ethan again.

"That person can't have been very careful, could they, if they were stupid enough to get themselves-"

Stiles jolts out of his chair and storms from the room, while Boyd pounces on Jackson. Lydia watches him go, helplessly, and listens to chaos errupt as Ethan pulls his wand out and Erica screams for them to stop.

* * *

The ravenclaw/slytherin feud is back in full swing and the other houses start getting caught in the crossfire. Danny starts shouting at Ethan at breakfast, for egging Jackson on. Scott trips up every slytherin he can get his eyes on. Even Professor Flitwick, who _accidentally _performs an eyebrow-thickening charm on a bunch of slytherins.

Lydia, on the other hand, can't find Stiles anywhere.

* * *

It's only just after Christmas when they catch Dolohov, and Lydia finds out the whole story.

_John Stilinski, husband of Dolohov's last victim Claudia and Head of the Misuse of Magic Office, expresses his relief at the capture of this heinous criminal. "It's a weight off my shoulders," he told the Prophet on Tuesday. "Obviously the incident was a long time ago, but it's hard not to worry- maybe he'll come back, finish off the rest of us. I'd half a mind to pull my son out of Hogwarts but they were very accommodating, adding in new security measures." Mr Stilinski's son, Stiles in currently in his fifth year at Hogwarts. "It's been hard for us, as family to deal with the loss," he continued. "But life has to go on, and I hope the Ministry makes the right decision regarding the punishment of Dolohov." _

She sees Jackson reading the article and laughing, and her vision turns red. She storms over to where he's sitting, and he looks up, mildly surprised.

"What's up, sweetheart, you-?

Before he can finish, she's slapped him with all the strength she can muster.

(And she might've performed some _colourful _spells as well.)

* * *

She's stuck in detention with Boyd, but she definitely thinks it's worth it.

* * *

Lydia's walking back from the library, when she bumps into a tall, bulky Gryffindor. She drops her scrolls and scrambles to pick them. He bends down to help her.

"Sorry," she says, breathlessly. "I'm Lydia."

"Derek," he replies, handing over a scroll. "I'm Cora's older brother. She's told me about you."

"She has?" asks Lydia, picking up the last book.

"Sure. Stiles' girlfriend. He's a good kid."

She doesn't correct him, but she convinces herself it's because she didn't have time.

* * *

She's sitting by the lake again, when Stiles comes over.

"Hey," he whispers, so quietly she can barely hear him. He sits down on the grass next to her, and points to the question she's answering on her scroll. "That's wrong, you know. You've got the law all mixed up."

Lydia looks down at her answer, and scribbles it out, silently cursing his brain.

"I heard you slapped Jackson," grinning at her. "Heard you just marched up to him and gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"So what if I did?" asks Lydia, smiling in spite of herself, and he throws his head back and laughs.

* * *

Ravenclaw clinch a victory from Slytherin. Jackson becomes considerably quieter, and flinches whenever Lydia comes near.

* * *

Hermione Granger comes to visit the prefects on a Monday. She tells them all about elf rights, and gives them a debate topic. Obviously, Lydia and Stiles are paired and have a venomous debate over elf wages, while Hermione watches them knowingly.

* * *

Sometime during the year, Scott and Allison fall apart (over some stupid argument). Lydia is forced to listen to Allison's analysis of every girl within 5 metres of Scott, and she often starts to daydream. Walking down the corridor, she sees Stiles with the same vacant exspression as Scott is rambling on a about something to him. He notices Lydia and pulls a face. She nearly laughs (which annoys her no end, because no stupid Ravenclaw should be able to make her laugh).

* * *

The Misuse of Magic Office deputies arrvive in June. They give a massive presentation, and manage to bore everyone to death. She practically runs out of the Hall when it's finished, dodging every student to get back to the dungeons. She notices Stiles laughing with the deputies- and Jackson watching mutinously, muttering under his breath.

* * *

**A/N Thanks for the reviews everyone! I saw this post on tumblr which had a teen wolf/harry potter crossover and i just HAD to write it. I'll find the link if i can. Of course, I managed to completetly miss the crossover button on the story details. I'm not going to move it though because...well, because of reasons. This is definetely going to be at least a three-shot, but I'll probably go into four because I ramble. A lot. BTW, if any of you wanted to know, the cover image is from the slytherin confessions page on tumblr(I spend too much time on tumblr).  
**

**Marine xx**


	3. III

**A/N thanks for following, and please review any ideas you have! This one is a bit short, so sorry. The next one will be longer I promise.**

* * *

Stiles gets one more O.W.L than her (technically he gets outstanding and she gets exceeds expectations). It's only Herbology but he's smirking like a jerk so she throws her arithmency book at him.

* * *

It's at the lake, _obviously_, when Jackson gets his revenge.

Lydia gets completely soaked, and is ready to _kill _when someone hauls her away from behind. Of course, it's Stiles and if she wasn't so cold she'd have shaken him off. He half-drags her over the trees nearby, away from the laughter and Jacksons smug face.

"Are you okay?" he asks, concern etched into his face.

Lydia almost hits him. "Yes, I'm soaking, cold and embarrassed but apart from that I'm fine."

"You need to take that shirt off, you'll get a cold," he says, starting to take his jumper off. "You can wear my jumper instead."

She can't fault him there, and she really doesn't want to get a cold. "Turn around then," she huffs, and she takes her sopping wet blouse off and puts on his warm, blue-striped jumper.

"Thanks," she says, and walks off before her cheeks get any redder.

* * *

"You're sniffing that jumper _again, _Lydia!" says Erica, in a sing-song voice.

* * *

She sees him in the courtyard, shivering and sneezing, but she doesn't give the jumper back (_what? It's comfy!)._

* * *

The holidays go by slower than she wanted them to, and it's still the beginning of august when she gets a letter from Stiles.

_Hey Lydia,_

_How are your holidays? Dad and I were wondering if you wanted to come to the Quidditch World Cup with us. Scott, Allison and Boyd are coming as well. It's Russia v Scotland, not that you would care. It's on 20th __August….so answer by then. You can come to stay a couple days before that._

_Stiles_

_P.S It's the perfect opportunity to give me my jumper back._

She practically runs downstairs to ask her parents if she can go, and spends the next hour thinking how to word her reply.

* * *

The first thing she does when she sees him is give him his jumper back. Allison and Scott give each other the look and Lydia flushes.

* * *

John is less snooty than she'd thought he'd be.

He's actually really nice, if a bit tired, but he keeps giving her and Stiles that _look_ every time they're near each other and it's freaking her out.

"So Lydia," John says from behind her. "What N.E.W.T subjects are you going to take?" It's a strange question to ask, especially on their way back from the Cup. Scotland won, and Boyd is still cheering.

"Ummmm…" says Lydia, feeling stupid. "I don't really know yet. Definitely not Care of Magical Creatures."

"Not a fan of dragons, are we?"he chuckles."Neither am I. Claudia loved them, adored all kinds of creatures." He sighs.

She wants to say something comforting, but what do you say to a man who lost his wife because of a crazy lunatic?

* * *

She finds herself in a compartment full of Ravenclaws on the train journey.

Cora looks like she wants to kill Lydia in several inventive ways, but her serial killer expression fades throughout the journey. Boyd bombards Lydia for information on Erica, and she can't help thinking why everyone comes to her for relationship advice (she doesn't even _have_ a boyfriend). It feels nice though, that they trust her so much, considering the deep rift between their two houses.

Erica comes to sit next to her, and Boyd suddenly becomes fascinated the raindrops on the window.

* * *

"Wait, are you actually serious?"laughs Jackson. "You're actually muggle-born, Martin?"

Lydia turns on her heel."Yes, Jackson, do I have to say it again to get it through that thick skull of yours?" She starts to walk away.

"No, no, not at all- _mudblood.__"_

The single word makes everyone in the hallway stop dead in their tracks. Even the surrounding slytherins halt and stare. Something shoves past Lydia, and the time she registers it's Stiles he's already on Jackson. The teachers rush to separate them but by that time Jackson is clutching a swollen nose and Stiles is wiping blood away from his lip.

McGonagall sighs tiredly.

* * *

Ancient Runes is actually a lot easier than people think it is.

Lydia is in the middle of translating a passage when Stiles comes to sit next to her, bringing a large, dusty dictionary.

"Have you seen Jackson lately?"he asks, a little too innocently. Lydia fixes him with a glare, eyes running over the scar on his bottom lip.

"No,"she says."Why?"

He grins. "Not much of a surprise. He's still crying over his now horribly disfigured face."

She can't help it. She bursts out laughing.

* * *

Slytherin set off large, scalding fireworks in the Ravenclaw common room. Lydia can hear the shocked screeches from the hallway. Jackson laughs at them all running out of their dorms and Lydia wants to slap him all over again.

* * *

Stiles starts going out with Cora, and Lydia wants to rip her throat out every time she sees her with him.

It shouldn't bother her.

They're barely friends.

It's none of her business who Stiles goes out with.

That doesn't stop her from snapping her quill in half when she sees them studying together in the library.

* * *

Derek corners her in the library two days later.

"You've got to get Stiles to stop going out with her,"he hisses, helping her get a book down from a high shelf.

"Your sister has every right to go out with whoever she wants,"whispers Lydia."Besides it's not like Stiles is a criminal or anything." She pulls the book open, and starts to flip through the pages.

"Cora should be focusing on her exams." Lydia scoffs.

"You sound like her mother. Just leave them alone." Derek starts to growl, and Lydia sighs."Why are you even asking me? Seriously, I've never even _had_ a boyfriend."

He looks up, surprised. "Really? I thought you and Stiles had a thing."

She doesn't take her gaze away from the book."You must have been misinformed."

* * *

"Lydia, Lydia, Lydia!"squeals Allison.

"What?"snarls Lydia, trying (and failing) to not look in the direction of Stiles and Cora, who are sitting on the Ravenclaw table, holding hands and talking to Boyd.

"Scott totally asked me out again!" _Who the hell does that Hale girl think she is?__  
_

"Oh my god, he just totally apologised!" _Flipping her long, brown hair and giggling like some high-school cheerleader. She acts like a dumb blonde._

"He's just so great!" _That Stilinski is asking for it, running his hand through his freaking hair like it's freaking attractive or something. God damn it._

But of course, she doesn't say any of that, and just sits there nodding.

* * *

She hates herself.

It's petty.

She's supposed to be above the whole stupid revenge thing.

At least it wasn't Jackson or Ethan, because she's not that cruel.

Lydia asks out Aiden in the middle of the hall, right next to the Ravenclaw table (ok, she may have planned that).

She's probably imagining it, but she's sure she sees Stiles' face fall.

* * *

**A/N I can't find the harry potter post so sorry but I did have fun on tumblr! Yay! Anyway, happy new year! 2014! This is definitely gonna be a four shot now, and if I'm being honest, five. I just love Stydia sooooo much, and there's so much sterek fanfic and not enough stydia. I'm a sucker for geek/popular ships. But stydia are kind of like a slow burn seth/summer from the oc. God, I loved that show. Oh look, I'm rambling again! Sorry.**

**Marine xx**


	4. IV

**A/N** **This**** chapter is practically angst overload (I mean like MAJOR angst, but I was in a angsty mood)so sorry but the next chapter will be more light hearted I promise.**

Aiden is nice.

Well, not exactly _nice _but he's a great distraction, and that's all she wanted him for. He's always asking for more, for a proper date, but she shakes him off every time.

She feels bad enough, without having to actually do stuff with him.

* * *

She's minding her own business, sitting by the lake drawing a tree,when Cora comes over.

"Hey, Lydia" she says, flopping herself down onto the ground and smiling at her. "Have you seen Stiles?"

Lydia shakes her head, resisting the urge to rip Cora's head off. "I thought you'd know where he is," she says, trying not to sound bitter.

"No, I didn't see him this morning. Derek's probably brutally murdered him. How are you and Aiden?" _Why is it so hard to hate this girl?_

"Fine."

"Great." The word is so sincere that Lydia almost cries because she's exactly what Stiles deserves, not some self-centered, over ambitious slytherin.

"I know you like him. Stiles, I mean." Lydia freezes.

"Ummmm...I...ummm...I don't...uhhhhhh."

"It's ok. I get it."

Now Lydia definitely wants to cry because not only is Cora the nicest girl in existence, she doesn't even mind that some geek is crushing on her boyfriend.

* * *

Everything becomes more difficult.

How is she supposed to deal with..._her feelings?_

_(and where the hell did they come from, she promised herself she was gonna focus on studying at this school)_

* * *

"Ms Martin!"

Lydia is jerked out of her daydream by the shout of her potions professor. "Yes?"

"You will be paired with Mr Stilinski. Your hour begins now."

Mortified, she goes to sit next to Stiles who is already chopping up the roots. He smiles at her. "You can start doing the leaves."

They work in silence for ten minutes, until Lydia asks "How are you and Cora?" She means it this time, it's not one of her obsessive interrogations for information.

"We broke up. We're better as friends anyway."

"Oh...I'm sorry." (She's _so_ not, but that's the obligotary response,isn't it?).

"Boyd and Erica started going out, did you hear?"he says, stirring the cauldron. "He asked her out yesterday."

"Yeah, I did hear," she replies, happy that at least some people in this god forsaken school have uncomplicated love lives.

"What about Aiden? I thought you hated him, and you're kissing his mouth every other day."

Lydia silently curses herself. "No, I hate his brother." She sticks her hand up in the air." Professor we're finished."

Nobody even looks up anymore, of course Martin and Stilinksi would finish first.

* * *

Aiden comes up from behind, and kisses her neck. "Hey beautiful."

Lydia practically pushes him off. "Not now, Aiden." It's cruel, but she doesn't want to break up with him either.

* * *

Boyd comes up to her and ask what Erica's favourite flowers are. There's a Hogsmeade weekend coming up, and since its Valentines everyone's going with their boy or girlfriends. Luckily (_why luckily, you should want to go with him_) Aiden has a cold and hes spending the day in bed. She goes anyway, she needs new quills.

Of course, _of course, _Lydia reaches for the same quill as someone with long fingers, someone called Stiles. "Sorry,"she mumbles, drawing her hand back.

"Its ok, you can take it." _No she most certainly can not. Stop being so infuriatingly sweet and take the goddamn quill. _

She mutters a thanks. He starts to walk away."How's your dad?"she blurts, not wanting him to leave.

"He's fine. Thinks you're the beacon of perfection-that you probably study all the time and breathe revision notes. I think he might have a crush on you, the way he blabbers on 'I bet Lydia revised that...'"

She laughs a little, but her insides are cartwheeling violently. "It's just, he seems tired," she says. Stiles nods.

"He doesn't sleep much. Neither of us do."

* * *

Lydia's mother sends her a letter. Her dad went to the hospital, and they found a tumour-the one that's been causing all the headaches. They're confident they can get it out and the survival rate is 85%. The facts are comforting, but Lydia goes out of her mind with worry.

* * *

"Allison I swear to god if you copy another one of my answers I'm leaving now, "hisses Danny.

Danny, Allison and Lydia are all studying in the library. "But, Danny,"moans Allison."You're just so clever, and perfect and beautiful and clever and incredible and...have I won you over yet?"

Danny sighs. "Okay, one more answer." Allison whoops and kisses him on the cheek. She notices something at the library door and gives Danny the look, and he looks in that direction and smirks.

Lydia's got her back to the door (and she doesn't trust her friends when they do the look), so she swivels round and Stiles is talking to the librarian. She rolls her eyes and turns back. "What's so funny about someone talking to a librarian?"she whispers to her two friends.

"Nothing!" they trill, simultaneously. They get back to work, until Danny breaks they silence.

"But I'd totally hit that, if he was gay."

Allison cackles as Lydia blushes a deep red.

* * *

The surgery was successful, and her dad is sleeping when she visits him. She clings tightly to his hand, terrified that if she lets go he'll float away he looks so light. The doctor tells them the survival rate has dropped to 50%, but he's strong so he should make it.

* * *

She breaks up with Aiden, because everything's getting to her, and she can't deal with the drama. He doesn't react much, and she's thankful.

* * *

Her grades slip a bit, and Lydia spends her free time studying. It takes her mind off the problems in her life.

* * *

Its on a Monday when everything crashes down around her.

She can barely hear the words Professor McGonagall is telling her, she can only hear snippets of noise from the Great Hall as she runs out.

_He's dead, he's dead, he's dead, he's dead._

_He's dead._

_He's **dead.**_

The word are so awful, so final, she can't stop replaying them.

She doesn't even know where she's going until she finds her feet at the edge of the lake. Lydia starts to scream, letting all her sorrow and hurt. She screams and screams and screams. It fades to a sob, and she crumples to the ground, sobbing and pleading with something that isn't there, to just _give her dad back. Please, please please, **please. **_She feels someone sit next to her and open their arms. Lydia falls into them and cries until she has no tears left, shivering despite the warmth of the person.

"It's going to be ok, Lydia,"soothes Stiles, stroking her hair. "Just let it out." She does, resorting to wailing pathetically and rocking back and forth, clutching her knees.

"H-he's gone,"she whimpers, snivelling. "He wa-wasn't much, b-but he was _my dad." _She sounds like a five-year old, yelling for her dad. Lydia remembers a trip to the park with her dad, and starts to panic when she realises she'll **never** go anywhere with her dad again.

Everything closes in on her. She's gasping for breath, trapped,and Stiles is grabbing her shoulders.

"Lydia,"he says, "Lydia, breathe. Focus on my voice, Lydia. Listen to me. Listen to my voice." She does what he says, and eventually her breathing returns to normal and she sinks into his arms again.

**A/N I'm a horrible person and I hate myself. I'm sorry, but it had to happen. I made Allison and Danny a brotp, because they so should be. I'd love it if they became better friends in the show. This should get wrapped up next chapter...but no promises. Did any of you see the new Sherlock episode? It was wow, I mean WOW! Review anything you want to happen,and anything you didn't like.**

**Marine xx**


	5. V

**A/N I lied. This is very angsty. Sorry i didn't update, I've just gone back to school sooo...yeah.**

"Hey, look, it's that Martin girl."

"I heard her dad died in a car crash."

"I heard cancer."

Lydia wasn't deaf. She could hear the whispers as she passed by in the hallway. She could see the students fall silent when she entered the room.

Her friends weren't much better either. Scott kept sending her pitying looks, and Allison and Danny were trying to cheeefully maintain conversations that died down every time they tried.

She was in her own little bubble. Not one she wanted to be in, but one where she was trapped.

* * *

Jackson makes some stupid joke about her dad in Potions. Boyd _accidentally _throws his cauldron at him, spraying him with the solution inside. The teacher doesn't say a word, but she swears she she sees him smile.

* * *

"Lydia! Lydia!"

She can hear Stiles calling for her, but she doesn't stop walking.

"Ignoring me isn't make me stop!"

Lydia almost cracks a smile.

* * *

She's having a nightmare, again, and it's awful and terrible. It's almost a relief when she wakes up.

Almost.

For some reason she's standing outside the Ravenclaw common room, barefoot and still in her pyjamas. Lydia shivers and turns to go back to the dungeons, before someone notices her.

"Lydia?" _Damn. _"What are you doing out here?"

"I...uh...I had a nightmare,"she sighs, sounding pathetic. She swivels back around and Stiles is standing there, leaning against the wall and yawning.

"And you decided to come ask us Ravenclaws for help?"

"No. I don't even know how I got here." She frowns, confused. "What are you doing up?"

"Studying." It's clearly a lie, but she doesn't question it.

"Oi, whoever's out there at this ungodly hour better shut up, we are trying to sleep!' It's Cora, and the girl is definitely not a fan of being woken up.

"Sorry!" Stiles calls back."Insomnia problems." Lydia can hear Cora sigh and mumble some insults Professor Flitwick would have definitely not liked.

"I should get back," says Lydia.

Stiles nods."Sure." He turns to the door.

"What is the only question you cannot answer yes to?" Lydia has almost reached the end of the corridor when she hears his answer.

"Are you dead?"

* * *

From that night, she finds it easier to talk to her friends. She opens up to Allison and everything pours out.

* * *

Life goes back to near normality.

* * *

A couple of weeks later, there is a morning so bizarre she can't even tell if it was a dream or not.

Derek punches a hole through the table, Scott is crying in Allison arms and Stiles goes so pale he almost faints.

What the hell is going on?

* * *

"They've gone missing" Allison whispers in the library. "Scotts mum and Stiles' dad. They were taken by some woman called Jennifer who Derek used to go out with."

"So that's why..." Lydia starts.

"Mmm hmm,"nods Danny. "She sent a message raving about how she needs to sacrifice three parents to gain eternal power. She's nuts."

"Three...But?"

"Yeah,"sighs Danny."She needs one more."

Lydia shudders to think who else will lose their parent.

* * *

Luckily, the message also states that the parents will only be killed if the three are together.

Unluckily, Jennifer only needs to kidnap one more unsuspecting parent, and they will all die.

* * *

This time, even Jackson knows to keep his mouth shut. He doesn't tease or mock.

Maybe it's because it could just as easily be his parents next, or maybe he really does have a heart somewhere.

* * *

Weeks pass. Scott becomes more and more sensitive and Stiles retreats into his own shell. No-one else has disappeared.

Yet.

* * *

The Misuse of Magic Office comes in again, and tells everyone to calm down and that security measures are in place.

"There is no need to get hysterical,"says one of the deputies."We are doing everything in our power to prevent another kidnapping and to help extract the two parents. Just stay civil and we will sort this out."

Derek scoffs and everyone turns to look at him.

"You don't know her,"he says, solemnly, unnerved by the attention on him."If you think security measures are going to stop her, _they won't._"

The deputy gives him a steely glare."With all due respect, Mr Hale, but if you knew her so well should you not have seen this coming?"

* * *

Two days later the last message comes through.

_They will die on Easter. I only have one more._

* * *

The lessons throughout the day are a blur. The teachers arent really concentrating and half of the students don't show up. Lydia blanks out through most of it, staring at Jackson's ashen face and Cora and Boyd whispering.

* * *

Lydia is walking to lunch when there's a blood curdling scream. She pushes past the throng of students in the way and Allison is standing by the gryffindor table, sobbing and gripping Scott.

_No._

_Not Allison._

Lydia tries to comfort her, to calm her down but Allison is still babbling about how her dad is going to die and Scott is trying to stay calm for her-even though he knows that this means the end for his mum as well.

The hall falls silent.

Lydia looks round and Stiles has walked in. He only needs to look at Allison's stricken face and he backs out, slowly shaking his head.

"Stiles!"cries Lydia, running after him."Stiles, come back!" She follows him out of the school to the lake.

_God she hates that lake._

He crumples near the tree, chest heaving with rattling breathes.

"Stiles,"she sighs, again.

"Ly-lyd-Lydia,"he wheezes, struggling to breath."I can't-I-I- I'm having a p-panic attack."

She freezes up, because what the hell is she supposed to do? "Ummm...ok, ok, breathe!"she soothes."Just take deep breathes."

"I'm trying!"he gasps, throat constricting.

_Ok, ok, ok Lydia. Think. How do you stop a panic attack?_

She's trying to concentrate but Stiles is practically choking beside her and she _can't _think.

_Relaxation. Deep breathes through the nose._

"Breathe, Stiles, slow down your breathing."

_Holding your breathe._

How does she get him to hold his breathe?! He's freaking out, and Lydia can't help- she's starting to panic as well.

Then she does the stupidest thing she could do.

She kisses him.

**A/n I'm sorry for not updating and this cliffhanger and everything. There's probably going to be another two chapters, but i dunno because my evil friends started reading this and I'm going to hurt them. Did you guys see the teen wolf premiere?! It was just the best! Should update around the weekend, if everything thing goes well.**

**Marine xx**

**P.S I found a great song that I was listening to while writing this. It's called Radioactive in the dark, and it's a mash-up by AirGirlPhantom on you tube.**


	6. VI

**A/N Hi! I'm so so so so so sorry that I didn't update in like _weeks_, and you can scream at me and do whatever. I always hate late uploaders and I've become such a hypocrite. I just lost _the spark _so, obviously, I had to watch lots of Teen Wolf to remedy that. Anyway, enjoy!  
**

* * *

By the time she breaks away, his breathing is back to normal. Lydia's glad they're away from the prying eyes of the collective student mass, because _hello, they just kissed and everyone would totally like, freak._

"How did you do that?"he asks, voice still shaking. He's looking at her in some sort of worshipping way and that's so not fair because she's already embarrassed enough without being looked at like a Greek goddess.

Because. They. Just. Kissed.

"Uh,"says Lydia. "I read somewhere that holding your breath can, um, stop a panic attack." That's a huge lie, because she hasn't read that anywhere. She doesn't have any books on medicine, not after what happened, but he seems convinced.

Stiles nods, still dumbfounded."That was really clever."

"Thanks,"she says, helping him up from where he collapsed by the tree."Your dad will be fine, you know." His breathe hitches again, and she curses herself because really, _Lydia go mention the thing that set him off. _Surprisingly, he manages to prop himself up against the tree, hands still shaking.

"He's gonna die, Lydia." She shakes her head vehemently.

"They'll get them out," she states, trying hard to make him believe her. Lydia grabs Stiles' quivering hands. "All three of them will get out." She shouldn't be making promises like this, but Lydia doesn't want say the cold hard truth - that John will probably die.

"She's crazy. Derek said." Lydia knows that, she _knows, _but she shakes her head again. "We should get back."

"Ok,"she says, scrambling up from the ground.

They walk back up to the Great Hall in unbearably awkward silence.

* * *

It's the day before Easter. The ministry have sent in an extraction team, but there are no promises.

* * *

The extraction is successful and the parents are out. Allison and Scott are hugging and crying and kissing and it's all a bit disgusting. They could at least be icky in private. Lydia searches the celebratory crowd for Stiles, and obviously he's with the Ravenclaws looking happier than she's ever seen him. She runs up to hug him, and _wow, he's really tall or is it just her that's really small?_

Cora smirks knowingly, but Lydia doesn't let go.

* * *

From then on, Lydia becomes very familiar with the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room. It's a cobalt blue colour with all these ornamental decorations, and long story short she _hates _it because it's where she goes when the nightmares come.

She goes there again on a Sunday night.

It was some awful dream, and she wakes up screaming and screaming and screaming until Stiles tumbles out of the gilded blue door to hold her. She shivers, wondering why this particular hallway is always so freaking cold, despite being paved with carpet and lined with fireplaces.

"What was it this time?" he yawns, sleepily.

Lydia shrugs, exhausted. She doesn't sleep much at all, and she's starting to wonder if Stiles ever does either. "It was another stupid nightmare."

"It's ok," he says, and she burns with guilt because he looks so tired, but he's always down here, every night.

"It's not,"she insists, practically crying. "You should go back to sleep."

Stiles laughs."Oh, Lydia, do you really think I was sleeping in the first place?"

* * *

Next thing she knows, she's eating meals at the Ravenlcaw table. Stiles, of course, is always there and they laugh over the grammatical mistakes Jackson makes in his insults when he walks past, sneering.

It's kinda stupid, but she loves it.

* * *

Then it's doing homework together. At first they start off friendly, but they end with viciously hissed arguments at the back table over potion combinations and charms.

And if she does extra research just to impress him, no-one needs to know.

_Maybe he does too._

* * *

Scott's house is even worse than Allison's. And that's saying something, because Allison's house was practically built on foundations of angst and filled with guns.

Lydia is not entirely sure what she's doing there, but she thinks it's something along the lines of _"Please, Lydia, I need you in case things get awkward with Scott." _So here she is, watching Melissa McCall washing the dishes and making small talk.

"John's told me about you,"says Melissa.

"Huh?" grunts Lydia, dumbly, still staring at the family pictures that scatter the wall. Most of them omit a man who Lydia knows must have left -and taken a chunk of memories with him. "Oh, you mean Stiles' dad? What has he been...saying?"

Melissa smiles. "Nothing like that. Just who you are and things."

"What things?"

"Oh, you know. What NEWTS you wanted to do. What you were like. Stiles' obvious and borderline creepy crush on you."

"E-Excuse m-me?" splutters Lydia, and _someone _in the next room laughs through the wall. "Stiles doesn't- I mean, he doesn't- me and him are just, you know- what are you...um- what?" The sniggering intensifies, and suddenly she knows why she's here- because she has a terrible friend with no boundaries and a boyfriend that will go along with her.

Then another voice floats through.

"What the hell is so funny, that you two are giggling like wannabe cheerleaders with a crush on the school jock?"

_Oh._

_My._

_God._

"Hey Melissa, my dad gave me this apple pie for you," says Stiles as he walks in carrying a delicious looking desert. Lydia's mouth falls open even further.

"Are you kidding me?" blurts Lydia. Melissa smirks and greets him, while Lydia's cheeks blaze a burning red.

"Ummmm...no?" asks Stiles, looking confused. "It's just an apple pie." He sets it on the table in front of her, and flops down onto a chair. "I didn't know you were going to be here."

"Allison invited me," replies Lydia, through gritted teeth. "Something about her and Scott."

"That's what Scott said. Promised something about Quidditch as well, but him and Allison are too busy pressed up against the wall."

"No, we're not," says Scott, coming in, still red from laughter. He almost starts again at Lydia's shell-shocked face, and she wants to strangle him. "Come on, Boyd, Derek, Cora and Issac should be here by now."

* * *

Issac is new. He's had tough childhood to say the least but he's wormed his way into their dysfunctional friendship group anyway. Danny introduced them to his fellow Hufflepuff, but Issac isn't as meek as he seems. Sometimes, he makes goo-goo eyes at Allison, but him and Scott are self-described 'bros' so he never makes a move.

He's also a very good keeper, notes Lydia, as she watches them warm up. Derek is arguing with Cora over the best voice amplifying spell, because Quidditch has never been Derek's thing so he always referees."Just use _Sonorus, _" says Lydia and that ends it, because Lydia is always right.

"Alright losers!" shouts Derek. "Three, Two, One...Go!" It's a good start for Scott and Stiles, but Boyd's not having it and he scores spectacularly. Lydia claps along with Allison, and she's starting to think that maybe this isn't so bad.

"Well, well, I should've known these people would be your friends, Scott."

* * *

**A/N Please don't kill me. I think you should be able to guess who this is. I'll send a preview to the first three who can. Promise to update within two weeks, and if I don't you can send me insistent messages until i do. **

**Marine xx**


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